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Drug overdose deaths in the United States are a pressing public health challenge. In particular, drug overdoses involving opioids have increased since 1999. This report focuses specifically on drug overdose deaths for older adolescents aged 15-19. In 2015, 772 drug overdose deaths occurred in this age group. Rates for 1999-2015 are presented and trends compared for both females and males. Percent distributions of drug overdose deaths for 2015 by intent (e.g., unintentional, suicide, homicide) are presented. Trends in drug overdose death rates by type of drug involved are also presented.

This report presents data on U.S. births using information from the birth certificates of the 3.96 million births in 1999. Data are presented for maternal demographics (age, live-birth order, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, and educational attainment); maternal characteristics (medical risk factors, weight gain, tobacco use, and alcohol use); pregnant women's medical care utilization (prenatal care, obstetric procedures, labor and delivery complications, birth attendant, and delivery method); and infant characteristics (gestation, birthweight, Apgar score, abnormal conditions, congenital anomalies, and multiple births). Birth and fertility rates are presented by age, live-birth order, race, Hispanic origin, and marital status. Data by mother's state of residence, month and day of birth, sex ratio, and father's age are included. Trends in fertility patterns and maternal and infant characteristics are described. Birth and fertility rates changed little in 1999. Teenage birth rates fell slightly. Rates for women age 20-24 years declined slightly. Rates for women in their late 20s and 30s rose slightly. Number of births to unmarried women, birth rate, and percentage of births to unmarried women rose about 1 percent each. Improvements in prenatal care utilization continued. Percentage of low birthweight was 7.6 percent. Preterm births were 11.8 percent. (SM)

This report presents detailed data on numbers and characteristics of births in 2013, birth and fertility rates, maternal demographic and health characteristics, place of and attendant at birth, and infant health characteristics. This final report ended up showing an overall decrease in births due to an over-calculation in the 2013 preliminary report of more than 25,000 births. A total of 3,932,181 births were registered in the United States in 2013, down less than 1% from2012. The number of births declined for non-Hispanic white and Hispanic women but did not appreciably change for non-Hispanic black women from 2012 to 2013. The general fertility rate declined 1% in 2013 to 62.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15–44, reaching another record low for the United States. The total fertility rate also declined 1% in 2013, to 1,857.5 births per 1,000 women.

A preliminary report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the number of births rose nationally by 1 percent — about 53,000 babies — in 2014, the first time in six years. In 2014, there were nearly 4 million births in the U.S., a 1 percent rise since 2013. According to the report, there were 62.9 U.S. births per 1,000 women age 15 to 44 in 2014. In 2007, that number was 69.5 per 1,000, and had been in decline since then—until this year. The decrease in birth rates starting in 2008 coincided with the economic downturn and high rates of unemployment. Preliminary figures show Utah women also had more babies in 2014: 52,139, up from 50,913 the year before. Utah continues to have the nation's highest birth rate: 17.4 for every 1,000 women in their child-bearing years. The number of babies born to teens dropped dramatically from 2008 to 2013 in Utah, from 3,777 to 2,269. Teen births in the state peaked at 4,550 in 1997.

This report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) presents preliminary data on births and birth rates [including births to teenagers (Figure 1)] and selected maternal and infant health characteristics for the United States in 2013. The 2013 preliminary number of births for the United States was 3,957,577, slightly more births (4,736) than in 2012 (3,952,841). From 2007 through 2010, the number of births declined steadily; the pace of decline then slowed from 2010 to 2012. The 2013 preliminary general fertility rate for the United States reached another record low: 62.9 births per 1,000 women aged 15–44, down slightly (less than 1%) from 2012 (63.0) (Tables 1, 3, and 5 and Figure 2) (2,3). The fertility rate has declined steadily since 2007, but the pace of decline slowed from 2010 to 2013. The 2013 preliminary birth rate for teenagers was 26.6 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19, down 10% from 2012 (29.4) and another historic low for the nation.

On Tuesday, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released preliminary data on US births, including numbers that show the birth rate for teen mothers has declined to a 60-year low. "The preliminary report also found a drop in the number of births to unmarried teens, record high levels of women receiving early prenatal care, a rise in the cesarean delivery rate, and no improvement in the percent of infants born at low birthweight." In additional to aggregate national numbers for birth rates and newborn health conditions, the report breaks down the data by state, race, and age. A press release is offered at the NCHS Website with a link to the full report in .pdf.

Released on April 29, 1999, this new Department of Health and Human Services report reveals that the US birth rate has dropped to a record low, due in part to a continuing decline in the teen birth rate. The birth rate for fifteen to nineteen year-olds has declined for six straight years, falling sixteen percent between 1991 and 1997. The report, presented in .pdf format, offers a comprehensive look at birth and fertility patterns based on the latest data for the nation and each state. In addition, it addresses topics such as maternal lifestyle, medical services utilization, and infant health. References and technical notes are also provided.